Uzumaki Kashi
by ILikeStuffz22
Summary: In the quiet country side of Japan, rests a dagashi shop who's owner Kushina Uzumaki is wanted back to work for the Shidare Co. She initially declines but offers to change her mind if Hotaru Shidare can get her to change her son's mind in inherting the business. Rated M for future references. OOC Naruto x Childhood Friend Hotaru. Dagashi Kashi Xover Fic. I do not own either.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

_Uzumaki Kashi_

* * *

 _Chapter 1: Prologue_

It was a beautiful day in the country side of Japan, as we find our hero currently coming back home from a jog around the neighbourhood wearing a pair of burnt orange shorts ,a matching burnt orange long-sleeved shirt and had bandages that covered everything between his hands all the way up to his elbow. His normally long spiky blonde hair was a little matted down to his head from the sweat that caked it, cerulean blue eyes that, despite being covered in sweat, showed a look of boredom and indifference and on his face 3 whisker mark birth marks adorned each cheek on his face.

"Okaa-san I'm back!" Yelled one, Naruto Uzumaki as he entered through the front entrance of his family's dagashi shop, _'Uzumaki Dagashi'_. It had the appearance of a small two story building with the front of the house being used as a store and a sign reading _'Uzumaki Dagashi'_. I also forgot to mention that it was also his home. Shelves lined with candy and other sweets were placed on either side of the room and a small table sat in the center near the back of the room, acting as a counter. To the left of the counter (From the perspective of Naruto) was a sliding door which lead to the kitchen/hall, which then lead to the living room, which then leads to both his mothers, and his room, as well as a guest room.

"Naruto, can you come to the living room please. We need to talk," Yelled back a voice from the living room. The living room door is pretty close to the door which leads to the shop which meant that he could hear his mother's voice quite well through the thin walls. Naruto sighed, having a hunch as to what it was she wanted to talk about, before replying with a drawled out, "Hai..." as he took off his shoes and headed towards the living room where his mother currently resided.

Upon entering the living room he saw his mother sitting with her legs under her on a pillow in front of a table. On top of it was the TV remote, a cup of tea, and a tea pot. His mother had long red haired that cascaded down her back and pooled around her. Piercing amethyst coloured eyes and currently wore a look that could probably cause even the hottest volcano to freeze over. She was currently wearing a white dress with a green apron over it and yellow slippers. Her hair was parted to the left and was held there by a single black clip. Naruto's mother was the one and only, _'Red Hot Habanero'_. She who was said to be able to eat even the most spiciest and sourest sweets and not even flinch.

"Please sit down," She said before grabbing the remote and turning on the TV. On the TV was a recording of Naruto training in a field. Punching and kicking that air whilst doing other things such as jogging around the area, sit ups and push ups.

"It has come to my attention that you have been training very hard to become an MMA fighter. All I have to say is..." There was a slight pause, but Naruto's face hadn't even changed from the look of boredom and indifference on his face, "LOOK AT THIS STANCE IT'S SO SLOPPY AND HAS SO MANY HOLES IN IT AND YOUR ATTACKS ARE ABOUT AS SLOW AS A TURTLE ON A NICE LEISURELY WALK ON THE BEACH!"

He didn't even looked phased and ended cleaning his ears with his pinky before asking, "Is that about it?" and getting up to leave.

However he did not notice the looming shadow of his mother before being pounced and put into a headlock.

"Is that how you treat your mother, young man?!" Kushina asked/yelled as she started to choke out her son. Suddenly Naruto got up and reversed the position.

"What are you doing! I had barely came home and we're already fighting!" Naruto yelled back. She pushed him off her before they got up and began circling each other.

"It's time for you to inherit _'Uzumaki Dagashi'_!" Kushina argued.

"No! I don't want to become a dagashi salesman, I want to become an MMA fighter!" Her son argued back before they locked hands and began a struggle for power.

"You need to face reality and understand that you can't always get what you want! Stop trying to immerse your self in your own desires and instead become the ninth successor of our family business!"

Naruto then proceeded to judo-flip her onto the floor and putting her into an arm-lock. "My future isn't for you to decide. I want to become an MMA fighter!" He then let her go before standing up and pinched the bridge of his nose as an annoyed look adorned his normally indifferent expression, "And besides, stop trying to make it sound cool by adding _'successor'_ to it when our quote, unquote _'family business'_ is a small dagashi shop that sells sweets in a small remote town!"

Kushina suddenly got depressed and went to a random corner of the room and began poking the ground with a stick as a depressing aura surrounded her.

"Also, I think you should be the one that needs to face reality. For starters, where you place the dagashi. It's in jars on the lower shelves and since most of our customers are little kids they can't even reach it. Second of all, if you want to increase profits, you should start selling dagashi with popular characters too since even though they may be expensive, are quite popular and will sell more". Finished Naruto.

Kushina suddenly lost her depressed aura and suddenly became excited and exclaiming, "See I knew you were fit for the job Naruto! You're practically a degashi genius considering how well you could point out my mistakes and how to increase profits!"

She then proceeded to stand up and began heading for the door, "Therefore I leave this store in your hands! Good luck buddy!"

"Oi! Matte!" Naruto tried to get his mother to stop but was too slow and she ended up bolting outside the store to god knows wherever.

Luckily I am technically God so I'll tell you. She ran to the back of the house.

A smile adorned her face as she spied on her son through the window, "He seems to be acting a lot better even after what had happened..." She quickly lost that smile as she bit her lower lip and looked down at the ground before thinking one word, _'Minato...'_.

 _~Flashback Start~_

 _A young Naruto Uzumaki was currently in the local bank with his parents as they waited for their turn to withdraw some money._

 _"Okaa-chan, Tou-chan," Naruto looked up at his parents with an impatient look, "How long will we have to wait?"_

 _His father, Minato, who Naruto basically looked a carbon copy like, minus he whisker marks, let out a small chuckle before looking down at him with a smile and replied, "Hopefully not too long Naruto"._

 _Suddenly a man dressed in all black and a ski mask on walked in and barged his way to the front counter. He put out a bag and began mumbling some words as people began telling him to go to the back of the line. The lady at the front asked for him to talk louder when all of a sudden he snapped around and fire his gun randomly, whilst yelling, "This is a robbery everyone on the floor now and put all your valuables in this bag!"_

 _He did not notice that his shot had actually hit Naruto's father, and neither did anyone until he hit the ground with a loud THUD. The man looked shocked not thinking that his gun would actually kill someone. "FUCK!" The man yelled as he got even more deranged and crazy. Yelling out random curses whilst telling the lady to put the money in the bag and she did after seeing what had happened._

 _The deranged man then suddenly got even more crazy as he aimed his gun towards someone else and that's when Naruto snapped. In blinding speed he bit off the man's ear before grabbing his gun and shooting him in the head. A cold look adorned Naruto's face when all of a sudden he dropped the gun and dropped to ground as well, gripping his head whilst muttering things that no one could hear. They all felt both sorry and scared for him as Kushina suddenly ran to her son's embrace and held him tight whilst yelling for someone to call an ambulance or the police._

 _Tears streamed down both their faces at the lost of both their husband/father and her son's first kill, accidental or not._

 _~Flashback End~_

 _'I don't think he'll ever forget that day,'_ Kushina thought as she silently cried to herself.

Back with Naruto he just got out of his room, after taking a shower and getting dressed in a bright orange high collar hoodie, with black stripes going down his the middle of his shoulders and down along side the zipper on both sides. The sleeves were rolled up to the elbows exposing the bandages on his arms. Underneath he wore a plain white t-shirt and black jeans. On his feet were black and orange sneakers. He started heading towards the front of the house where the shop was located when, suddenly,

"Hello, is anyone there? I'm coming in, please pardon the intrusion."

A voice called out from the front of the house and Naruto just sighed before replying with a, "Hai! I'm coming!"

Once he got to the front of the shop he was shocked to see who was there. A young lady, around his age stood at the door. Light purple hair and pale blue eyes adorned and framed a heart shaped face. She wore a frilly black and white dress and red bow that around her neck. Black leggings covered her legs and black shoes covered her feet.

They both stared in shock.

"Hotaru Shidare-chan?!/Naruto Uzumaki-kun?!"

 _~To Be Continued~_


	2. Chapter 2: Reunion

_Uzumaki Kashi_

* * *

 _Chapter 2: Reunion_

"Hotaru Shidare-chan?!/Naruto Uzumaki-kun?!" They both yelled in surprise.

Then all of a sudden they launched themselves at each other, embracing in a tight hug. Two long, almost lost, childhood friends had just been reunited and for the first time in what seemed like forever to Naruto, he cried. Not tears of sorrow, but genuine tears of joy and happiness.

They finally separated and Hotaru struck up a conversation as soon as she could.

"Naruto-kun! How have you been, last I had heard of you was that you had left for the country side after what happened and then suddenly vanished..." She asked, with tears also streaming down her face.

"I've been alright, but I don't really wanna talk about... _that_ ," Naruto replied, before embracing her once again in a hug.

After what seemed like forever they finally separated and Naruto asked as to what she was doing here.

"Well," Hotaru began, "I was sent here by my father to try and convince your mother, Kushina _-oba-chan_. To come back and work for us again. However seeing as she's not here, I guess I'll have to test you to see if you still have it in you".

"Ready?" She asked.

"Yup," Naruto replied as they both slipped into a stance.

"What's the king of dagashi?!" Hotaru asked/yelled as she threw him a ten yen coin, which he caught effortlessly.

"Simple, Umai-bou, because it is known for having a variety of flavours and combinations that go well together," Naruto replied.

"Correct," Hotaru then began to get into an act, "Ah... I'm somehow in the mood for pizza, but I also want to eat natto as well! What should I do, oh what a dilemma..."

Hotaru finished before looking back at him.

 _'Glance~'_

"Then why not you combine both natto and pizza?" Naruto replied.

Hotaru's stance faltered and she awkwardly asked, "N-now that I've done my one, why don't you show me some of your combinations as well and try and satisfy me if you can!" She finished once again gaining her confidence and had a smug look on her face.

"Say that after you clean your face of crumbs, geez," Naruto replied as he took out a handkerchief and wiped off the remaining crumbs around her mouth. When he finished Hotaru just pouted and turned away with a blush on her face.

"You don't have to do that anymore, we're not kids anymore and you're only a few months older than me," She yelled flustered.

"Be that as it may, you're still an airehead," He replied before putting the handkerchief away and heading towards the section where they kept the Umai-bou. "Hm..." Naruto looked deep in thought as he looked over all the different flavours of Umai-bou, "How about this: cheese and octopus dumpling umaibou?"

Hearing this, Hotaru quickly got over her flustered state and got all smug again, "It's pretty good, but it lacks punch".

"Hm... What about grilling it?"

When those words left Naruto's mouth, Hotaru began imagining octopus dumpling being grilled on a, well, grill, before it transformed into its dagashi counter parts. Her mouth began to water, but she attempted to try and keep her smugness by replying with, "Something is still missing though," all the while wiping her chin of drool.

Naruto went into deep thought again as he put both of the flavours back, causing Hotaru to lose her hungry look as she developed a disappointed look and began twiddling with her fingers after noticing what she had done. "Hm... What about this," He said as he picked up pizza, onion salad and corn potage flavoured Umai-bou, "There we go, pizza, onion salad and corn potage. It can be a sort of _'Italian Mood Combo'_ " As he finished his sentence, Hotaru suddenly appeared in front of him out of nowhere, dropping three ten yen coins on the floor, before snatching each Umai-bou out of his hands and proceeding to open the and take a bite out of each of them.

"Ottimo! I can see France!" Hotaru yelled striking a pose as she did so.

"It's supposed to be Italy," Naruto deadpanned as he watched her pose falter.

Hotaru quickly recovered, "Eh... N-not bad, Naruto-kun!".

A genuine smile wormed its way onto his face.

"Hai! I see that you've got an extraordinary talent... As being a dagashi shop owner," Upon saying those words Naruto's spiky bangs suddenly shadowed his eyes, and with extraordinary speed, proceeded to appear infront of Hotaru and chop her in the middle of her head.

"You shouldn't go saying things like that, Baka-Tarou," Naruto said, menacingly. Hotaru crouched and began to cradle her head.

"Mou~... Why'd you do that, Naruto-kun..." She asked, as she cradled her head. Naruto stood above her, with his menacing look, long since gone.

"Because, Baka-Tarou, you're an airhead. That and I think it's a force of habit, sorry." Naruto apologised, as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Also you've got crumbs on your face again," He then took out his handkerchief again and wiped her face clean, "Seriously, you're like a baby sometimes".

"Heh..." A confident voice came from the door and they both face to see Naruto's mother and Hotaru's adoptive Auntie, Kushina.

"Kushina-oba-chan!/Hotaru-chan!" they both exclaimed, moving to hug each other after not seeing each other for so long before they stopped.

Then Hotaru struck a pose, followed by Kushina. Then they rushed each other.

"Are fries okay with you?" Kushina asked.

"Yes, I'd love to have some fries," Hotaru replied.

Out of nowhere, Naruto appeared between the two and chopped both of them on their heads, and they crouched to the ground in pain and nursed their aching head.

"Mou~... Naruto-kun why did you do that?" They both asked simultaneously.

"Force of habit," Naruto replied, as his face shifted once more into an indifferent expression. "Anyway, why don't you go outside and wait while I get the fries," Naruto suggested as both women headed outside and he went to go get some fries and head outside himself.

He handed a packet of fries to each of the women, and kept one to himself. They were all different flavours.

"Thank you," They said, as they took each one and opened it before taking a bite each.

"Mm! Fries are the best!" Kushina stated.

"Yeah! They are thin like this, but still have a strong taste to it. Plus there junk-food greasiness makes them so good!" Hotaru replied. "But..." Hotaru's face fell into a somber look, as her hair began to shadow her eyes, "Do you know the best way to eat fries?"

Kushina got a glint in her eye and a smirk worked its way onto her face as Hotaru snatched Naruto's Spicy-Spicy Chicken flavoured Fries and proceeded to open it, "It's to eat them in layers in one go!" As she got three fries and layered them, before consuming them in one bite.

"Though do note that the Spicy-Spicy Chicken flavour is incredibly spicy, so please do be careful," Hotaru stated as she stared at Naruto, with the are around her lips turning red and a twitch in her eyebrows as she attempted to not cry out in pain.

"Again? You really are like a baby, Hotaru-chan, Stay here I'll be right back," Naruto sighed as he headed to the kitchen to get an iceblock for Hotaru whilst leaving her with Kushina. Hotaru was trying to fan her lips after that little accident with Naruto's fries while Kushina was staring at Naruto's fleeing back side before turning towards Hotaru.

"Say Hotaru," Upon hearing her name, Hotaru's head perked up to look at Kushina, "Can you promise me one thing?"

Hotaru's face suddenly shifted into that of a serious one, "Hai, what is it?".

"C-can you promise me that you'll be by my son's side for the rest of your life. He's been through so much, with what happened to him, I think you're the only that can bring him back to me," Kushina asked, as tears began welling up, "It's just that, he's been getting even far more distant than before ever since and the doctors said that he may never recover, psychologically. So please... Please protect him..." At this moments Hotaru had come forward and pulled her into a hug whilst whispering, "I promise..." to soother her nerves.

"Thank you..." She replied, before they separated and Kushina wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Hey Hotaru-chan I got you an ice block since everything else was still fresh from the store and that was the only edible cold thing I could find," Naruto said as he walked in, he could sense the tension in the air and could see that his mother's eyes were red and puffy from crying. He wanted to say something, but felt that he shouldn't, just incase this was a girl thing.

"Thank you Naruto-kun," She replied as she took the frozen treat from his hands to soothe her still burning lips.

They sat in silence for what seemed like forever until Kushina broke the ice.

"By the way Hotaru-chan, what did you come here for?" Kushina inquired.

Hotaru took the ice block out of her mouth with a _'pop'_ as she proceeded to answer Kushina, "Well I was sent here on the request of my father to ask you to work for the Shidare Sweets Company again".

Kushina stood up tall and placed her hands at her waist and yelled out, "My answer is, 'NO'!"

"May I inquire why?" Hotaru asked as she began sweating, clearly not expecting this to happen.

"I grew up here in Uzumaki Dagashi. It's practically my life, and as long as my son refuses to become its ninth owner, I can not ever desert it..."

Hotaru suddenly gripped Naruto by the shoulders as tears began to well up in her eyes.

"How can you have such a wonderful mother, Naruto-kun, but still refuse?!"

"Despite you saying such nonsensical things, I'm afraid I have my reasons as well..." Naruto's eyes gained a distant look as he began to gaze at the mountains, _'I want to be able to protect my family, especially after what happened..._ _'_. Hotaru, who was still gripping his shoulders noticed the far away look in his eyes and bit her lower lip, knowing why he had that look in his eyes. This prompted her to suddenly embrace him in a hug, shocking him.

"H-Hotaru-chan?" Naruto stuttered at the sudden contact.

"You don't have to face it alone anymore..." She whispered, but whispered it loud enough so that he could hear it.

Tears than began to well up in his eye as he whispered, _"Thank you..."_ before returning the hug and silently cried into her shoulder

 _'Thank you so much Hotaru-chan. Please take good care of my son,'_ Kushina thought as she left them to do their business. As Kushina disappeared into the house, Naruto finally let go of Hotaru.

"Well look at the time," Naruto motioned to the sky as the sun was beginning to set, "Do... Do you think you could stay for the night?"

"Uh..." Naruto's childhood friend looked away with a blush, "S-sure, why not?".

Naruto embraced her in a tight hug before letting her go and going inside to inform his mother, all the while leaving Hotaru shellshocked. Both at how easily he could shove his emotions down and how strong he's become. However, even after all that, she just glanced at the area where Naruto was just standing and smiled to herself before heading inside.

Later that night, after dinner, Hotaru and Naruto were sitting in the living room of the house watching TV. Naruto was currently wearing a black singlet and orange boxers, whilst Hotaru was wearing a purple nightgown and yellow shorts that she borrowed from Kushina. When all of a sudden Naruto brought up a conversation that would trigger a flashback.

"Hey Hotaru,"

"Mm?"

"Do you remember how met as little kids?"

"Mhm!"

"How come y-" Naruto went to face Hotaru and question her as to why she wasn't responding in words but stopped mid-sentence seeing as she was currently stuffing her face with an unhealthy amount of candy. "Geez Hotaru-chan, you eat so much it's a miracle you haven't gained any weight".

 _~Flashback Start~_

 _"Tou-chan! Hurry! I wanna get to the park now!" A young little Naruto yelled from atop his father's shoulders as they headed to park._

 _"Alright, alright, Naruto. Just wait we're almost there." Minato replied as he looked up into the sky, 'Not a cloud in the sky today'._

 _Once they arrived Minato set down Naruto so that he could play and went down to sit on a bench to near the playground as to make sure that he could always see Naruto._

 _With Naruto he was running towards the park after his father set him down and just as he reached it he immediately headed for the jungle gym. He scaled it almost as fast as a monkey and once he reached the top he yelled out, "I'm the king of the world!"_

 _Minato could only giggle as he watched Naruto play around._

 _It was only after a little while that Naruto stopped playing when he heard a sound come from the bushes, and being the curious little boy he was, went to investigate. What he found was something that would contribute to him never forgetting what happened that day. Behind the bushes was a cute, in his opinion, girl who had purple hair and a matching purple sundress, being surrounded by older boys. Around 12 years old by the looks of it._

 _He didn't know what to do So he hid behind the tree and waited for what ever was going to happen. He knew that he shouldn't do anything and should call his Tou-chan, considering he was around 10 at that point. It was then that he heard something that almost made him snap._

 _"Hey, hey, weirdo!" "What's up with the weird purple hair?!" "Ugly hag!"_

 _It was then that Naruto knew what to do, he snapped. He got out from his hiding spot and went to confront the older boys._

 _"Hey! Stop picking on that girl!" Naruto yelled._

 _"Or what?" Mocked one of the boys._

 _"Or else..." A menacing look appeared in his eyes as he took a stance that he had seen used by a karate master on the internet._

 _Almost all of them backed off, all except one. This cocky bastard decided that he could beat Naruto single handedly, boy was he wrong. Now, please note that even though Naruto is 10 year olds, that is around the age where he picked up an interest in MMA or Mixed Martial Arts. Meaning he's got a little experience in karate, judo, boxing, etc. So he could probably hold his own against someone 2 years older than him with at least some difficulty._

 _"You think you can beat me, or us? Bah! What a joke! Guys why are you scared, it's just some little kid and we outnumber him!" The cocky bastard yelled._

 _'I'm glad that Tou-chan isn't here...' He then launched himself forward towards the bullies. As soon as he got close, the cocky bastard tried to throw a sloppy uppercut that Naruto easily evaded and knocked him out with a single right hook to the temple._

 _One of the lackys decided to run forward whilst he was distracted and kick him from behind, but Naruto could hear his footsteps and turned around in time to side step out of the and leg sweep him. The lacky landed on his head before going unconscious._

 _The final bully left decided it was best to try and face Naruto with a weapon so he tore off a branch from a nearby tree while Naruto was fighting the other bullies off and went to strike Naruto with it._

 _"Watch out!" Yelled the girl as everything slowed down for Naruto. He turned around to see the boy with the branch coming at him. He held it above his head and was about to hit Naruto when, in a burst of speed, Naruto sent a kick to the boy's gut. Causing everything to return back to normal and leaving the bully holding his stomach in pain on the ground. Naruto got out of his stance and headed towards the girl who now had tears streaming down her face for some odd reason._

 _"Are you alright?" Naruto asked as he held out his hand._

 _Breaking out of her stupor, she reacher for his hand and he helped her up. "Hai, thank you for helping me," the girl responded._

 _"That's great! By the way my name is Naruto Uzumaki! What's yours?" Naruto said as he shot her a grin._

 _"My name is Hotaru Shidare! It's nice to meet you Naruto-kun!" The aptly named Hotaru replied._

 _"It's nice to meet you too Hotaru-chan!"_

 _"Naruto!/Hotaru!" Two voices called out to them from beyond the bushes and they both knew who it was._

 _"Tou-chan!" They yelled simultaneously as they ran towards the sound of their fathers' voices._

 _Once they ran past a few bushes and trees they found their fathers waiting in the clearing._

 _"Naruto!/Hotaru!" Both fathers ran up and scooped their children into their arms._

 _"Naruto what happened?/Hotaru where were you!" Minato and Hotaru's Father asked._

 _"I was being picked on by some bullies from school when Naruto-kun here helped me and beat them up!" Hotaru replied._

 _"Naruto! Is this true?!" Minato asked._

 _"Hai... But they were picking on her! No one should pick on a girl!" Naruto replied with vigor in their eyes._

 _Both fathers just stood there not knowing what to do until Hotaru's father decided to speak up, "Well it was a pleasure meeting you Naruto and your father. I am especially thankful of you for saving my little girl," as he finished with a deep bow towards Naruto._

 _"It's no problem! After all that's what friends are for right?" Naruto replied._

 _"Friends?" Hotaru looked confused, "What's a friend?"_

 _Naruto gasped, "You don't know what a friend is? Well then, let me explain. A friend is someone you consider a precious person and since you don't have any friends, I shall be your first friend!"_

 _~Flashback End~_

"Hm... Those were the days..." Naruto recounted with a smile. He then took a glance at Hotaru before sighing and taking out a handkerchief and wiping the crumbs off of her face.

"Geez, Hotaru-chan, don't let this become a habit." Naruto sighed as he finished wiping the rest of the crumbs off her face.

"Hai, hai~" She replied, but her response was muffle through the fabric as he wiped the crumbs off.

"There we go, now you better hit the hay soon and make sure to drink some water, or else you'll get sick in the morning. Also I set out the futon in the guest room. Goodnight!" Naruto said before disappearing into his room.

"Goodnight!" Hotaru replied.

 _~To Be Continued~_


	3. Note Of Absence

_Please Take Note That This Is NOT A Chapter, But A Notice_

 _Hi, It's me. I'm posting this to inform you that this story will be on a tiny hiatus as I am beginning on another story._ _My reason is because I don't want to lose the idea I have right now.  
However! This is not like most of the other hiatus notices that you read, as this is not permanent._ _So please take note, that if you see me post another story then that means that the next chapter for this one will not be far behind._ _Probably around a day or two after I have released the new story.  
P.S. Once the new story and chapter are out, this notice will be gone and will be replaced by the new chapter.  
_

 _Sincerely, Jay._


End file.
